Quantum News Nexus

The 8th annual Chicago Quantum Summit 2025 started today in downtown Chicago, not far from the home base of Quantum News Nexus. Unfortunately, I won’t be there in person as I’m laid up with a back injury (Don’t get old, kids!). Fortunately, the Chicago Quantum Exchange and University of Chicago are hosting a livestream of some of the sessions.

Here’s my first there-in-spirit report:

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker opened the event with some welcome comments and a pitch for more quantum firms to make Chicago their home. Pritzker (not pictured, as I was a little too slow with my screen capture) has been energetically touting the now-under-construction Chicago Quantum and Microelectronics Park for some time.

His speech was covered by local media, but here’s a bit of what he had to say: “Quantum technology isn’t easy. It’s arguably the most difficult technology humans have ever attempted to master, and it requires patience and persistence and collaboration, and those are Chicago values. So, we’re building something here that’s really hard to replicate. It’s a complete ecosystem where fundamental research, applied development, commercial deployment are all in the same place, supported by shared infrastructure and sustained federal and state investment, and the foundation of our quantum future is laid. The momentum honestly is undeniable, and the opportunity before us is truly extraordinary.”

It should be noted that the new tech park is not universally supported. It’s being built in a neighborhood where residents have been worried about getting displaced, and where they argue there is more of a need for grocery stores and affordable housing  than a quantum technology hub. Several big-name quantum companies are backing the project, but the leaders of the effort have not made clear how the neighborhood and current residents will see any benefit.

After Pritzker’s comments, David Awschalom, director of the Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE) and Liew Family Professor of Molecular Engineering at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering University of Chicago (UofC), offered the first bit of breaking news from the event with his announcement that the UofC and the Barnes and Thornburg law firm have teamed up to launch the Quantum Law Navigator.

Awschalom (who is pictured above) explained, “As a lot of us know, particularly in the science world, US laws and regulations are particularly complex when applied to quantum technology, largely because our timelines are unpredictable, our science tends to be a little complicated, and our innovations have significant implications for both economic and national security. So, we need to strike a balance. How do you balance innovation and collaboration with protecting intellectual property? How do you create these robust global supply chains, and how do you get access across the world to the best talent and funding? And how do we do this for all members of the sector, from small startups to large scale industries?”

He added that the downloadable reports available through the Quantum Law Navigator will serve dual aims “to drive a very important dialog to ensure responsible, productive quantum economic growth, but also to level the playing field by offering stakeholders of all types of the tools for translating complex rules into an actionable strategy to bring your ideas into market.”

It sounds pretty interesting, and the kind of assistance that a growing, highly-technical sector needs. I will post a link later when I can find one. It did not appear to be available yet.

More updates to come from the summit later today and tomorrow.

Image: David Awschalom, in screen grab from Chicago Quantum Summit 2025

Quantum News Nexus is a new site from freelance writer and editor Dan O’Shea that covers quantum computing, quantum sensing, quantum networking, quantum-safe security, and more. You can find him on X @QuantumNewsGuy and doshea14@gmail.com.